Hall mobility of cuprous oxide thin films deposited by reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering

Cuprous oxide (Cu(2)O) is a promising earth-abundant semiconductor for photovoltaic applications. We report Hall mobilities of polycrystalline Cu(2)O thin films deposited by reactive dc magnetron sputtering. High substrate growth temperature enhances film grain structure and Hall mobility. Temperature-dependent Hall mobilities measured on these films are comparable to monocrystalline Cu(2)O at temperatures above 250 K, reaching 62 cm(2) / V s at room temperature. At lower temperatures, the Hall mobility appears limited by carrier scattering from ionized centers. These observations indicate that sputtered Cu(2)O films at high substrate growth temperature may be suitable for thin-film photovoltaic applications. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3589810]